RED BULL GRC RACE RECAP: LOS ANGELES PRESENTED BY SUBARU TECNICA INTERNATIONAL

September 15, 2015 by Global RallyCross Championship

Red Bull Global Rallycross' return to the Port of Los Angeles may have seen a new course, but both days of racing action ended with the same winner. Scott Speed swept both Los Angeles races to take a sizable chunk out of Ken Block's Supercar points lead heading into next month's tilt in Barbados.

SATURDAY RECAP: For the first time in over a year, a Red Bull GRC final began without Ken Block on the grid, as three separate incidents combined to derail Block's Saturday program. Instead, it was Scott Speed and Patrik Sandell who earned the two semifinal victories up for grabs, with Speed's Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross teammate (and top qualifier) Tanner Foust joining them up front.

Those three drivers would comprise the podium, though it was Foust who would run second to Speed with Sandell in third. The 1-2 finish was Volkswagen's first in Red Bull GRC competition, and marked Speed's first points-paying Supercar win since his victory in Los Angeles nearly a year previously. Behind them, Sverre Isachsen delivered Subaru Rally Team USA a season-best fourth place result, while Steve Arpin completed the top five.

SUNDAY RECAP: Once again, Speed was the class of the field, this time topping the qualifying charts before winning his heat and semifinal. He would again jump out to the lead, while Block's bid for a redeeming podium came up short when a propeller shaft broke early in the final and dropped him to ninth overall.

Instead, it was Brian Deegan—winner of two heats in Saturday's action—who would follow Speed home, with Foust making his way onto the podium once more in third. Despite a valiant effort, Sandell settled for fourth, while Arpin ensured that both Chip Ganassi Racing drivers would make it into the top five.

UNOFFICIAL RESULTS: The results from Saturday's Red Bull Global Rallycross Los Angeles (I) presented by Subaru Tecnica International, the eighth round of the 2015 Red Bull GRC season:

1.Scott Speed, #41 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle

2.Tanner Foust, #34 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle

3.Patrik Sandell, #18 Bryan Herta Rallysport Ford Fiesta ST

4.Sverre Isachsen, #11 Subaru Rally Team USA WRX STI

5.Steve Arpin, #00 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Fiesta ST

The results from Sunday's Red Bull Global Rallycross Los Angeles (II) presented by Subaru Tecnica International, the ninth round of the 2015 Red Bull GRC season:

1.Scott Speed, #41 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle

2.Brian Deegan, #38 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Fiesta ST

3.Tanner Foust, #34 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle

4.Patrik Sandell, #18 Bryan Herta Rallysport Ford Fiesta ST

5.Steve Arpin, #00 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Fiesta ST

QUOTES: A selection of quotes from Sunday's Red Bull Global Rallycross Los Angeles (II) presented by Subaru Tecnica International, the ninth round of the 2015 Red Bull GRC season:

Scott Speed, #41 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle: 'It's been great! Obviously the beginning of the year didn't go quite as planned, but with a new program like this you're going to have little hiccups. Our cars are dialed and sorted, they're fast, and they're durable. I see us as a major threat for the championship, and it's certainly moving forward, so I couldn't be happier. I feel so lucky to be able to drive this thing—I've got a great teammate, a great team, and I can't say enough about Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross.'

Brian Deegan, #38 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford Fiesta ST: 'It feels good! It's been kind of baby steps here. I come in and out of the series with a lot of other forms of racing, so when we come in we've got a lot of ground to make up. These guys are all fast, their cars are so dialed, so you can't make one mistake. Ganassi really stepped up this year with a new rally program, and we're definitely a threat the first time out, which means a lot. I know the guys work really hard, I appreciate that, and it showed. The bottom line is, we just went out there and tried to be smooth.'

Tanner Foust, #34 Volkswagen Andretti Rallycross Beetle: 'It was a pretty brutal final—I think I was in sixth place coming around the fifth corner, which was right before the jump, and it was just mayhem. So I feel pretty fortunate to get back up to third. The Beetles were flying all weekend. Scott got out clean and got a clean sweep, both cars have been killing it, so we're stoked. I don't know what it's done to the championship but it's made it interesting once again.'

FAST FACTS: A collection of facts from Saturday and Sunday's Red Bull Global Rallycross Los Angeles presented by Subaru Tecnica International, the eighth and ninth rounds of the 2015 Red Bull GRC season:

◾Scott Speed earned the sixth and seventh victories of his Red Bull GRC career by virtue of sweeping the weekend's doubleheader. Speed is the first driver in Red Bull GRC history to win two rallycross race events in a doubleheader event. He is also now the winningest driver in Supercar history, surpassing Ken Block.

◾Tanner Foust earned his second and third podium finishes of the 2015 season by placing second on Saturday and third on Sunday. Foust has placed in the top five in six of his nine starts in 2015.

◾Brian Deegan earned his first Red Bull GRC podium finish since September 2014 by virtue of finishing second on Sunday. Deegan's podium is the second for Chip Ganassi Racing since joining Red Bull GRC at the start of the season.

◾Patrik Sandell's third place finish on Saturday was his fourth podium in a five race span. Sandell has only finished worse than fourth once since MCAS New River in July.

◾Subaru Rally Team USA placed three cars in a main event on Saturday for the first time since Los Angeles (II) in September 2014. Sverre Isachsen's fourth place finish on Saturday was the team's best finish since introducing the new WRX STI platform.

◾Since missing the Detroit (II) final, Steve Arpin has earned three consecutive top five finishes. Sunday's result ensured that Chip Ganassi Racing placed both cars in the top five for the first time since Daytona (II).

◾Ken Block missed his first main event since X Games Austin in June 2014 in Saturday's final. Block has only missed two other main events in his career: X Games Los Angeles in July 2011 and Charlotte in May 2012.

UNOFFICIAL DRIVER POINTS:

1.Ken Block, 328

2.Scott Speed, 315

3.Sebastian Eriksson, 292

4.Patrik Sandell, 290

5.Nelson Piquet Jr., 274

6.Tanner Foust, 265

7.Steve Arpin, 264

8.Joni Wiman, 239

9.Austin Dyne, 222

10.Brian Deegan, 154

11.Sverre Isachsen, 108